It's not delivery OR DiGiorno

My hubby LOVES pizza.  Every time I ask him what he wants for dinner his answer is always "pizza."  I'm not kidding.  He's never said anything else.  I like pizza, but I can't eat take out pizza (so sad).  So our happy medium is that I make my own.  I always used to just buy those crusts from the store until my mom informed me that making your own crust is really easy.  And the best part?  You don't even need yeast!  I'm not even going to try to pretend that I came up with this by myself.  All you need to do is google "pizza dough no yeast" and 800 pop up.  The problem is finding the best one.  So that's what I did for you.

The first time I tried my own dough it was a way too much work and ended up being way to dough-y.  I made another that was pretty good, but not great.  This time around I stumbled upon another blog (Kristin in Her Kitchen) with a no yeast recipe.  You can see it here.  The good news is that everyone usually has all of the ingredients in the house. (I won't list them since you can see it all on her post.)

By the way, if you don't have whole wheat flour, you need to get some immediately.  I have white whole wheat flour and I use it ALL the time.  Combine it with some white flour in your recipe and it's perfection.  Now, we all know that dough making is not my forte.  This dough was SO easy to work with.  I barely had to knead it.

And it rolled out really quickly too.  My arms are not going to be sore tomorrow. 

I baked the crust for about 7 minutes and then added my toppings.  I had some shredded chicken in the freezer from my last freezer meal escapade so I used that and some frozen spinach.  Basically I currently have no pepperoni in the house for hubby so this is the best I could do. 

I baked it with the toppings for 10 minutes and then took it out.  The middle was a little questionable so I popped it back in for a few more minutes but then the cheese started to brown.  Then I realized that the blogger was not joking when she said this was a softer crust.  So if you like crunchy pizza, just turn back now.

Honestly, I liked this crust the most out of all the pizzas I've made.  You just have to go into this experience knowing that it's not going to taste like Pizza Hut.  (aka no grease)  Once again, Bob said it was "okay" but he's also eating it cold.  I don't think this a pizza you want to eat for breakfast.

Since my blogging has been limited lately (life got crazy), I have great news.  My spring break starts tomorrow at 3:00 (!!!!!!!)  I've never needed a break more in my entire life (I probably say that before every break, but it's always true).  Whenever I have a break, that means it's time for.....FREEZER MEALS!  I checked the dates on my last meals (I have 3 left) and they said 2/9/13.  So that cooking session lasted me 7 weeks!  Of course, this doesn't mean we ate a freezer meal every night.  We eat out occasionally or sometimes I'll actually cook on the weekends :)

So I'm going to call up grandma and ask her to take me to Costco next week.  I need to go on a week day so the insanity will be at a minimum.  I don't know about your Costco, but ours always seems to have at least 10,900 people in it. I'm currently gathering my recipe list (it's a long process) and dreading doing this again.  I just keep telling myself how good I feel when it's over.  Kind of like working out. 

Stay tuned :)

Another year older...

Well, today is my birthday.  I feel like I should add !!!! to that sentence, but it's not that exciting.  However, yesterday was my little sister's 21st birthday and that is very exciting!!!  She can now legally consume alcohol.  That was around the time in my life when drinking became a lot less exhilarating and a lot more nauseating.  That being said, I'm sure my sister and I will be having very different birthday celebrations this weekend :)  My hubby took me to our favorite restaurant (Houlihan's) tonight. 

Side note: we have the worst luck with restaurants.  I'm not kidding--it could come with extremely high recommendations and then as soon as we walk in everything goes down hill.  So Houlihan's is one of the few places that has remained consistent for us. 

Tomorrow I'm going to paint pottery with a few of my girlfriends.  I'm not sure if that's a sign that I'm getting older, or regressing to my childhood years.  Either way, who doesn't like to paint?? 

I celebrated the day by having an IEP meeting (blah) and playing Snakes & Ladders.

Then my friend at work had some of my students make me cards....

...which is probably the nicest thing anyone at this job has done for me.  I love them :)

 OH, and this might be the first year that I had absolutely no idea what my husband got me for my birthday.  No offense honey, but you're an awful secret keeper.  He has asked me every day since the beginning of March if I want to know what my present is.  Since I'm a grown adult (sometimes), it was a little less tempting to say yes.  But can you imagine how hard it will be to keep secrets from our future children??  I was a very good girl, considering the present was sitting in a box under our coffee table all week.  Kids, however, won't be so obedient.  He kept talking about this present so I have to admit my expectations were pretty high.  And I was not disappointed.  He took some of the diamonds from his mom's ring and created a ring for me.  He even added sapphires for the month we got married.  I was blessed with an amazing husband :)

Onto other things...

Since we'll be eating out pretty much all weekend, I decided to share what we ate earlier in the week.  I thought this chicken cacciatore was so good, but Bob said it was "okay."  Because I put it in the crock pot, I think it lost some of its flavor.  So I would recommend either making it on the stove/in the oven or adding more seasonings.  (the original recipe is courtesy of http://freezermealsforus.blogspot.com/--if you ever need freezer meal ideas, that's the place to go!--I just altered a few things)

You need:

1 lb bone-in chicken thighs (skin removed)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 onion, chopped (or onion powder if you're me)
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 6-oz can tomato paste
1 cup white cooking wine (or any dry white)
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp marjoram
1 bay leaf
mushrooms and green peppers, chopped, if you can eat veggies in your house

Combine salt, pepper, onion, garlic, tomato paste, wine, broth, thyme, and marjoram.  If you're using actual onions, throw everything in the blender and blend until smooth.  If you're going to freeze it, pour the sauce in a bag and add the chicken and bay leaf.  To cook, you can first saute the chicken for a few minutes (I chose not to).  I just dumped in the crock pot and cooked on low for about 7 hours.  Once the chicken was tender, I removed the bones and cut it into pieces.  I then served it over rice.  You could serve it over pasta as well. 

The only thing I would do next time is add some ground red pepper and a little more salt.  I've made other recipes for chicken cacciatore on the stove and they turned out great.  The good thing about this one is that it's so simple and can be left in the crock pot all day. 

Since Bob bought me Les Miserables today, I'm going to try to convince him to watch it with me :)

Stir Fry-ing

I'm just going to say it: spring break needs to get here ASAP.  The other night I told Bob that after spring break I have 9 weeks of school straight, with no break.  He said, "Oh, so like real life?"  So I start feeling like I'm being a baby.  But then I think, "why else would anyone work in schools?"  I'm all about the breaks!  And those in education need those breaks.  When I think of all the after school hours I spend planning, laminating, cutting, and writing reports I sometimes want to cry.  And I don't know about any other SLP's, but my students could not care less.  Today one student actually said, "I'm bored," in the middle of an activity. WHATT????  I just need to stop there because I could go on a rant forever and no one wants to hear that.

Needless to say, I'm fried today.  So I thought it was appropriate that I make a stir fry.  I know I always go the chicken/pork route, but I've been craving red meat lately.  I bought some of this great stir fry meat the other day.  I'm sure it's a tiny bit more expensive than normal because it's pre-sliced, but who wants to cut a big hunk of beef? 

Ingredients
1/2 lb beef, in strips
5 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp Sriracha (or your fave hot sauce)
1 garlic clove, minced (or garlic powder)
1 tsp onion powder (or real onion if you're normal)
1 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp water
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp pepper

Heat whatever oil you choose in a skillet.  If you're using chopped onion (I would if I were you and didn't have a weirdo in my house) saute in the oil with the garlic.  Add the meat and heat until cooked.  Meanwhile mix your sauce ingredients together (soy sauce, ginger, lemon juice, honey, sriracha, pepper).  I originally wanted to use honey only but when I taste tested it I thought it needed more sweetness.  So that's why I included the tsp of sugar.  Do whatever feels right to you.

Pour the sauce into the skillet with the meat.  Mix the cornstarch and water together, then add to skillet.  Let simmer, stirring, until sauce thickens.  Add more cornstarch/water as needed.  Serve over rice.

Let's keep in mind that I only used about 1/2 of beef so it was perfect for 2 people.  If you're cooking for more, you'll have to double the recipe. 

Also, I can't believe how spicy I thought it was!  I said, "I thought it was" because Bob didn't think it was spicy at all.  My mouth was on fire.  He even says the "off-brand" Sriracha I got at Costco isn't as good as the real stuff. 

This is definitely one of my go-to meals during the work week, with different sauce variations.  If you wanted to make it into a freezer meal you could combine the sauce and raw meat in a bag and freeze it. 

Time to go back to Dancing With the Stars.  I'm on team Sean Lowe & Lisa Vanderpump (in case you were wondering).

Spring has sprung! (sort of)

Well this week we had a little peak of what spring will be like if it ever truly arrives.  That was enough for me to go on a Pat Catan's shopping spree for new craft materials.  Last month I actually had to sign up for Catan's VIP card because I spend so much money there.  I'm addicted to their seasonal aisles.  Last fall I started making my own wreaths.  I could never find any that I liked at the store and never wanted to pay $50.  So now I just cruise through Pat's wreath accessory aisle (made up name) and grab a million things.  Therefore, I end up spending probably $50 anyways so....ironic?

I'm a little nervous to share these pictures and ideas.  I am nowhere close to being any kind of interior decorator--like, not even an amateur one.  I don't know what's "cool," other than some things I might find on the internet.  And no matter how hard I've tried to replicate online ideas, I just can't do it.  I use whatever catches my eye and fits my mood at the time.  So, I hope there are no superstar crafters or decorators reading this :)

  Here's the wreath I made for Easter:

I love grapevine wreaths.  I stepped away from them for Christmas and post-Christmas but was drawn back to them this time around.  So I grabbed some of this stuff:

(sorry for the blurry picture)  It's basically just wire wrapped in sparkly silver and pearls.  I cut each strand apart and intertwined them in the grapevine.  Then I bunched these flowers together and stuck them in the wreath.

And I had to wrap some yellow ribbon around them to hide the stems.  I love pink and yellow and Easter is the best time to use them!  So then I found these adorable gems:

You probably can't tell from this horrible picture, but basically they're just jewels and gems on wire. 

After my wreath I moved on to other decorations.  Bob and I found this table (at Marc's actually) to go behind the couch.  I was so excited to finally have a space to go crazy with fun decorations.  The first thing I put together was this vase:

I don't know about everyone else, but I am a flower killer.  Before I lived with Bob, plants knew me by name and warned their friends to run in the opposite direction.  You would think that I make the obvious mistake of forgetting to water them.  Well, I do.  But I also over water them.  They hate me.  So Bob has his special plants that he waters religiously and I stay out of it.  This is why I stick to fake flowers.  I mean, these are still pretty, right?  I found some pretty stones and jewels to put in the bottom of the vase.  I also got the vase at Pat's.  Then I perused the flower aisles and grabbed anything pink, yellow, and white that I liked and was under $2. 

While in the Easter/spring/wreath accessory section, I found those adorable flowers on the left.  They have words on the petals and are the prettiest colors.  Then I found some ceramic and wooden painted eggs.  I arranged them in a shallow vase and stuck the flowers in.  For the other vase, I combined some of those green decorative stones you can find anywhere with some different sized pearls I had from Valentine's Day.  Those were another great find at Pat's.

I also found this frame on sale.  It says, 'we may not have it all together, but together we have it all.' :)

And here is the finished product:

OH--those candles!  Easiest craft ever.  Get some plain white candles and a stamp with words on it.  Ink your stamp and roll the candle over it.  It smears a little but I think the imperfection  makes it better! (thank you to Pinterest for that idea)

Coconut and New Jobs

First of all, I would like to congratulate my hubby on starting his new job today!  After about 2 years of working crazy 13 hour shifts, nights, weekends, and dealing with lunatics, he finally had enough.  This job has regular hours (M-F, 9-5:30), vacation time that he can actually take (yay!), and normal, nice people.  For the first time since we've been married, we won't have to count out weekends on the calendar to determine if he's working before we make plans.  We can eat dinner together every night of the week!  So needless to say, this is a pretty big deal. 

On my side of things, I'm going to start doing some prn work at a few nursing homes.   I finally got my CCC's (!!!) a couple weeks ago and want to get as much experience as I can in a variety of settings.  For those who are non-SLP's (lucky you), having my CCC's means that I no longer need a supervisor to practice speech therapy.  Don't get me wrong, I loved my last supervisor, but it's really nice to be on my own.  The down side is that I literally have not stepped foot into a nursing home since grad school.  So this should be fun...?

The moral of the story is that Bob now provides drugs for nursing homes and I provide speech therapy in nursing homes.  Basically we're the best friends/worst nightmare of the elderly. 

Now onto the good stuff.  FOOD.  Coconut breaded chicken tenders.  I found the original idea online and decided to just wing it.  By the way, what have I NOT found online?  I probably sound like I spend 75% of my day on the computer.  And let's be honest, I pretty much do.

Here's your ingredients:
Chicken (sorry to be vague, but you can buy the tenders or breasts--I chose breasts and cut them into the size I wanted--live your life and do what you feel is right)
1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
1 cup panko (remember that Japanese stuff)
Salt and pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 cup-ish oil

Let me preface this by saying that I hate breading things.  1) There are too many steps and therefore too much time is wasted.  2) It's not as healthy.  You have the flour, the egg, and THEN the breading.  3) It dirties too many dishes.  You need 1 for the flour, 1 for the egg, and THEN 1 for the breading.  This is all very frustrating and exhausting.  The solution?  Don't bread anything.  No.  Way too extreme.  So I had to find a happy medium--which is olive oil.  I replace the eggs and flour with olive oil.  I honestly can't even taste the difference. 

OK so after you have the chicken at the size of your choice, prepare your TWO dishes.  Pour the olive oil into one dish.  I guessed on my measurement.  I mean, obviously, if you run out just add more.  Then sprinkle all your seasonings into the oil.  Combine the panko and coconut in the other bowl.  Dip the chicken in the olive oil, and be generous.  Then cover it with the panko/coconut mixture.  Place the pieces on a lightly oiled baking sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.  Flip the chicken and bake for another 5-10 minutes (depending on the thickness of your chicken. 

Here it is!

You're probably wondering what that colorful, delicious looking stuff is next to the chicken.  Meet orzo, my second favorite carbohydrate (behind rice, of course).  If you've never had it, I guess it's kind of like a baby noodle?  It actually makes me feel like I'm eating healthy because it has many different colors and is smaller than a noodle.  You can buy the regular, one color kind, but I prefer tri-color.

I'm confused because the brand is Rice Select but it's called 'tri-color pasta.'  Whatever.

This is my all time favorite orzo recipe, courtesy of allrecipes-orzo with parmesan and basil.  Just follow the link because I can't even pretend to make this recipe better.  That's not true.  Add a little crushed red pepper and it'll be heavenly.  Because I'm still new to the orzo world, I've had to google a bunch of recipes.  I've dressed it with oil and vinegar and ate it cold, which was also amazing. 

Last but not least, I thought I would sure what Ricky the dog is doing tonight.  He loves to sit up on this couch because the windows face the street.  That way he can watch the action and alert us to any danger.  After alerting, he will proceed to hide under the coffee table.  So every day we come home from work and the bottom half of the blinds are closed.  I assumed he was getting over excited and launching himself at the window.  Well, turns out he drops his toys between the window and couch and tries to rescue them on his own.  Bless his heart, it doesn't work.  Today was the first day I witnessed this phenomenon.

Longest blog post ever.  To anyone who made it to the end, I'm shocked.  I know I said I would share my Easter/spring decorating, but I'm still working on it.  Soon.  Soon.

BBQ and Bubba

Happy Saturday :)

I hope that everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather today!  I took Ricky for a long walk and there were more people outside than there are in the summer.

Well today is all about barbecue.  Bob and I found out that Al "Bubba" Baker was going to be doing a book signing at Barnes & Noble today.  Unless you're a football fanatic (and older than me), you probably know him for his restaurant in Avon Lake, Bubba's Q.  I'm very embarrassed to say that we have not tried it--but it's now on our list.  Since B is working, he asked my dad and I to go and get some signatures.  Bubba and his daughter (who was also at the signing) put together this cookbook of all their best BBQ recipes.  I can't wait to try the fried chicken.

Let me just say, Bubba is THE nicest guy.  He was so down to earth, talked to everyone there, took a picture with my dad....

And signed Bob's helmet for him. (don't mind the giant stack of lamination waiting to be cut in the background)

It was just a coincidence that I decided to make my own BBQ chicken for dinner this weekend.  The original idea is from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook but I tweaked it a little bit.

 We eat chicken a lot in this house.  So when I spotted this cookbook on sale I just had to have it.

Here's what you need:
4 bone-in chicken thighs (you could use breasts too)
1 tsp onion powder
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup chili sauce (I use Hokan--the same brand that makes my fave Hoisin sauce)
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp yellow mustard
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (or more if you want it spicy)

To freeze: mix all ingredients for sauce.  Pour into a freezer bag and label.  Put chicken skin side down in an aluminum baking pan.  Tape sauce bag to pan and freeze.

To cook: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Bake chicken, uncovered, for 25 minutes.  Flip chicken and pour a few spoonfuls of the sauce over it.  Bake 20-30 minutes, adding the rest of the sauce 10 minutes before finished.

I love this sauce.  It has a little spice and just an overall different flavor from BBQ out of a bottle.

I also made cheesy potatoes, which are super easy.

Grab:
4-5 potatoes (I used Yukon Gold)
Salt & pepper
Garlic powder
About 1/2 cup milk (I used skim)
A lot of cheese--I probably used almost a cup, but we love cheese

Peel the potatoes and boil until soft.  Cut into about 1/2 inch thick chunks.  Place in a lightly greased baking pan.  Pour the milk over the potatoes.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Then dump a ton of cheese on top.  Bake, covered with foil, at 375 until cheese is melted and milk is thickened.  I left mine in the oven while the chicken was baking for the last 20-30 minutes.

I'm in love with these potatoes and they went great with the BBQ chicken!

Tomorrow I'm hoping to make a trip to Pat Catan's (it's been a few weeks so I'm dying to go).  I need to revamp my decorations for Easter/spring!  I'll share them when I do.
 
P.S. Don't forget to change your clocks tonight :)

Tender and Juicy Tenderloin

Just another week night in the Jones' household.  This particular one was a little better because the sun was up until after 6:00!!!  I feel like a whole new day started and I can stay up for hours! (or at least til 10:00)  It's incredible what a couple extra hours of daylight will do for you.  When it gets dark at 4:00 it makes me want to lock the doors, close the blinds, and go to bed.  So then we realized that we change the clocks this weekend and in my head I said, "I can conquer the world." 

Despite the extra sunlight, the hours of IEP writing and Kindergarteners drooling on my iPad left me NOT wanting to make dinner.  So I didn't.  Everyone: get ready for this recipe.  It will blow your mind and your taste buds.  My good friend Tara recently told me that she is conquering her pork phobia due to my last tenderloin recipe.  Well Tara, pork is about to be your new best friend.  I found this original recipe online as a steak marinade and decided it would be just as good on pork.  (I can't find my source but I'll keep looking!)

So get your:
1 pork tenderloin
1/3 cup soy sauce (if you haven't noticed I use a lot of this)
1/2 olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp basil
1 tbsp parsley flakes
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp hot sauce of your choice

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl.  If you want to freeze it, pour it in a freezer bag with your tenderloin.  Label and freeze.  To cook, throw in the crockpot for 7-8 hours.  It took a little under 7 hours for mine. 

Let me just say, this came out so incredibly tender that it was falling apart.  I even ate it without a knife!  I served it with my favorite veggie noddles that I now have, thanks to my sis.  She found them at Giant Eagle in case anyone is looking :)  I love mixing my noodles with a little olive oil, white wine, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and basil.  No measurements: just equal amounts of each?  Since I can't do overpowering flavors, this is enough for me.  But of course, Bob has to pour a truck load of Heinz 57 on them.  When I found out he put it on the pork, too, a little part of me actually died.  "This pork does not need any sauce!!"  Heartbreaking.

It's embarrassing that my meals are not more aesthetically pleasing.  My husband and I are usually starving by the time I go to take the picture so this is literally what my food looks like 10 seconds before I eat it.  I promise I'll try to work on my presentation (key word being 'try'). 

To those of you who have pork phobias (cough, Tara), don't ever cook your tenderloin in anything except the crock pot!  And add a ton of sauce. 

I should also mention the lack of veggies in my meal(s).  As we all know, Bob won't go within 10 feet of a vegetable so I don't bother buying them anymore.  I used to buy fresh veggies but they would always go bad before I could eat them.  So I started buying frozen veggies only.  At first I was like, ugh I know it's not as healthy as fresh but what's a girl to do?  Then, I read somewhere, or maybe saw on Dr. Oz, that frozen fruits/veggies are just as good, if not better, than fresh!  They're supposedly flash frozen right after being picked and then kept that way until you eat it.  So when you buy a fresh head of broccoli it's already traveled to the store and then sat there for however long.  And then it sits in your fridge.  Crazy, right??  Not only that, but frozen peas, carrots, corn, brussel sprouts, asparagus, etc. don't agitate my GERD like their fresh versions.  It's a win-win situation. 

This is my fave right now.

Ok, I'm stepping off my frozen vegetable soap box now :)

Banana Bonanza

Let me just preface this by saying: I. love. banana. bread.  And not just bread.  I'll take muffins, cake, souffle, whatever.  I love it all.  Maybe it's because this is a dessert that is acceptable to eat for breakfast (at least for me it is).  I started making banana bread in college and have experimented with a TON of recipes.  I've always said that I'm a cook, not a baker.  I hate measuring things and figuring out ratios.  It makes me uncomfortable to think that if I accidentally add a little too much flour the whole recipe will be screwed up.  But lo and behold, I can't stop waiting for my bananas to get mushy enough to bake with.  This is a combination of 2 of my favorite recipes. 

You need:
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 very ripe bananas (the darker the better--like, black)
3/4 cup sugar
1 of those individual cinnamon applesauce cups (it's all I ever have, sorry)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup walnuts (optional)
1/4 chocolate chips (optional)

If you want a cinnamon crumble topping instead of chocolate chips then you'll need:
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp butter
(I've only done this with muffins)

Preheat oven to 375 for muffins, 325 for loaf.  Mix flours, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  Mash the bananas and beat the eggs (sounds violent).  Combine the eggs, bananas, sugar, egg, and butter.  Add this mixture into the flour mixture and stir until moist.  Throw in the nuts if you're using any.  Pour the batter into a lightly greased loaf pan or muffin tin. 

If you're making the crumble topping, mix the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.  Use a fork to mix in the butter until it looks "crumbly."  Spoon over the batter.  If you're using chocolate chips, skip this part and just sprinkle them on top.  I also put some in under the first layer of batter.

Bake 20 minutes for muffins and 60 minutes for a loaf. 

Here is the finished product

I made bread this past time so I don't have a picture of the cinnamon crumble muffins.  Just trust me, they're phenomenal. 

 OK--I know it seems like a lot of ingredients, and it is.  But I found that the applesauce and the honey make it ten times better.  I don't lie to myself and pretend that this is equivalent to eating 3 bananas.  However, I do like to think that it's better than eating an entire row of Chips Ahoy cookies.  

I would like to thank Taste Of Home and All Recipes for providing the original recipes so that they could combine to make this all powerful recipe :)

Something's Fishy

Since it's now the church season of Lent, there's a lot of talk about fish.  Every other commercial on the radio and TV is for some fast food type of fish.  I don't know about you, but nothing about that is appealing to me.  I don't think fish is supposed to be square...?

So today I wanted to share my favorite kind of fish.  It's call barramundi and apparently it's Australian.  I like Australian accents and kangaroos so why wouldn't I like their fish?  My mom spotted this at BJ's (my fave) awhile ago and I keep going back to it.  My favorite white fish used to be talapia but Bob says they eat unsavory items off the ocean floor.  Really, I prefer to take the route of 'what you don't know won't hurt you.'  But now that he knows this information he refuses to eat it. 

In steps barramundi to become my new favorite white fish.  It has a mild flavor and you can really do anything with it.  Also, it's healthy!  Here's how I make it:

1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs--I love these)
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 tsp salt and pepper
3 tbsp oil (preferably olive)

Pour the oil in a shallow dish.  Combine the panko, bread crumbs, and S&P in a separate shallow dish.  Dunk each piece of fish in the oil and then in the bread crumbs.  Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a skillet.  Fry the fish on each side for a few minutes.  The thing I love about fish is that it's easy to tell when it's cooked.  It goes from a light pink to an opaque white.  This is the finished product:

I'm sure you could cook it without the breading but I love this too much to try anything else.  Plus, the way I see it, you're making a healthy choice by eating fish so why not splurge with some panko?  You can serve it with rice, potatoes, salad, sauteed veggies, pretty much anything you want.  OH another great thing about barramundi--I buy it frozen.  And it thaws in about 15 minutes in some cold water.  This is why it's become one of my go-to meals when I haven't thawed a freezer meal. 

Hope you try it!